


Decisions, Decisions

by 55SPF



Category: Marvel (Comics)
Genre: Action & Romance, Dialogue, Janet Van Dyne gets an honorable mention, Lots Of Alone Time, M/M, SHIELD, This is really weird I'm sorry, i take from their personalities in Tales Of Suspense, stuck together, the romance is light but it's there if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 03:52:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18358049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/55SPF/pseuds/55SPF
Summary: Clint Barton and Bucky Barnes are on a stakeout together, thanks to Janet's amazing leadership skills. (Love u Jan). Clint's kind of annoying, Bucky's kind of awkward, it's a whole thing. Can they still get the work done while Clint's being a total disaster?





	Decisions, Decisions

Clint Barton does not make many good decisions. In fact, most of his good decisions have been made for him. From becoming a bad guy, to turning Avenger, to taking on an apprentice. That is, if Kate Bishop could even be called that. She’s been a better Hawkeye than him from day one, and he didn’t even know her back then. These events and the choices he made have been heavily influenced by the people around him. 

He wouldn't call working with Bucky Barnes a decision. It feels more like bad luck than anything else. He's not great for conversation, the mutual ex-girlfriend thing kinda makes it weird, and sometimes Clint’s not sure how close the banter is to flirting. He’s lost track of where the line is. He isn't going to complain though, things could be worse. 

Stakeouts are definitely less fun when you’re by yourself. But Clint has a talent for this stuff. He notices things. Which is probably why he and Barnes have been assigned together. He'll have to thank Van Dyne for putting him with the ex of his ex. He’d have tried to bail, or insist on doing it himself, but Janet usually knows what she’s doing as a leader. He's hoping this isn't an exception.

Clint's mind passes over these thoughts aimlessly until they're disrupted by a pattern-knock on the wall of the van. The passenger door clicks open and Bucky slides in, shutting it back in place and also shoving a paper bag into Clint’s hands. 

“Food.” he says simply, pulling his mask off and putting a pair of binoculars to his eyes. This prompts Clint to take a look in the bag, finding an only slightly damaged sub sandwich inside, along with a bag of chips. Kettle cooked for a healthy option, if that’s believable. He’s happy to unwrap the sub and take a bite. Finally. Windy got one food request right.

“Thanks. What took so long?” He asks, only pretending to have no appreciation for the energy spent.

Bucky raises an eyebrow at him and then returns his face to the usual scowl. “Your fucking order was a mile long, Barton.” It's true. Clint isn't even a picky eater but having The Winter Soldier list off a bunch of specifications to some sub shop worker just seemed hilarious at the time. 

“Oh, right. Thaaaank Youuuuu.” Clint draws out the vowels in those words playfully. “Were the shop people okay with it? Did you tip?” He speaks with his mouth half full, mostly to annoy his teammate. By the look of mild disgust on Bucky’s face, it works. 

“Didn't talk much, they were intimidated. Didn't tip either. Was I supposed to?” 

He stares at Bucky. Bucky stares back at him. Something’s lost in translation. There’s time for Clint to say something witty, but he’s too lazy for the banter, and decides to just cut to the chase this time around.

“Tipping is the usual now.” He responds. There’s nothing more than a grunt of acknowledgement from the other.

The quiet stays for an hour or so. Bucky’s not talkative and Clint’s focused. While there are so many things Clint could talk about to make the time pass, he actually wants to get this part of the job out of the way. The van is stuffy, the radio’s punched, and he wants to stretch out, maybe shoot an arrow or two. It’s not happening.

He’s had his eyes on a window for a few minutes now, particularly the silhouettes inside. They’re having a very animated conversation, he can only imagine what about. Clint continues to watch, playing it in his head as a soap opera.

Bucky points to the window. “That’s our mark.” He starts preparing his gear, as if he were going to go start a fight. That makes Clint laugh, and he gets a glare in response.

“It’s not.” Clint says, crumpling up his paper bag and tossing it at the soldier’s head. 

The bag goes ignored. Bucky squints at him for a second, as if to ask what, but then he looks to the window and watches. “Explain.”

“Body language.”

“...You’re... joking?” Both an accusation and a question. Clint assumes Bucky has no idea what a joke sounds like.

“Not this time.” Clint starts. “Look at them. There are more casual touches than anyone doing a business deal would allow for. She touches his shoulder, he takes her hands. They argue here and there, she points her finger, he points to the door. The cycle repeats.” He’s no natural at picking up on body language. Clint has to focus, pay attention, and understand the way people act. “They're just a couple with a problem.”

There are times it doesn't come as in handy. There are people that just don't act normal. Barnes is one of those people. He was impossible to read at first. But Clint thinks he's cracked the code. Bucky acts real stoic and unplayed. He's seen as an emotional brick wall. But he's definitely more of a sarcastic asshole than people realize. He's had stupid moments. Clint has _seen_.

“It's easy once you catch onto things.” He finishes.

“So you can tell about people by their action.” Bucky says plainly. 

“Yep.”

“What can you tell about me?” He asks. 

Clint laughs at that--

“More than you'd think.”

Hours pass. Barton is half falling asleep. Barnes is wide awake, keeping eyes on the windows and doors ahead of their van. That much, Clint trusts. He's trying to keep alert, but given the content of the job, he's bored and his eyelids are getting heavier. 

“Barton. **Barton**.”

“Hn… Yea?” He wanted to sound less asleep, but that failed miserably. Clint isn't doing well with the dead streets, and the lights being dim doesn't help.

“If you fall asleep, I'm punching you in the face. With my metal hand. It will hurt.” Calm voice? Not a serious threat? Hopefully. 

“You're crazy.” the words fall out as Clint sits up straighter, stretching his arms and extending far enough to push on Bucky’s face with a hand. Bucky is clearly annoyed, but he does nothing. He's definitely used to Clint’s antics by now.

“I'm just bored. Can't do much in this dumbass truck.”

Bucky makes a face, Clint can't tell what it means. He just furrowed his brows and looked out the window. A couple of minutes pass.

“When Natalia and I used to go on stakeouts, We would play games while we waited.”

“I don't want to hear about you and Nat's stakeout car sex, Barnes.”

“I'm talking about I Spy, dipshit.” Bucky's facial expression remains bitter. But Clint knows he isn't wrong, and he's about to argue the point when Bucky covers his mouth with a hand. 

“I hear something.” He says. There's a motor running distantly. Clint can't hear it. He pulls Bucky's hand away by the fingers and rolls down his window.

“What is it?” he asks. He's messing with the settings on his hearing aid blindly, trying to tune it in differently. 

At that moment an engine blares behind them, and the van is slammed into from behind. Clint would be flying through the window if Bucky's arm wasn't holding him to the chair. What does go flying instead, is a lone hearing aid. Into the dark floor of the van.

“Aw, fuck.” he grumbles. Clint can barely hear himself. He's got one aid left and it's low battery. And of course, because the situation has to escalate, a gun shows up in Clint's window. He's about to clock whoever it is, but Bucky takes over the situation in a rage, pulling the handle on Clint's door and shoving it open with his metal arm, effectively denting both the door and presumably the person. 

“‘think we’ been spotted.” Clint says, pulling his bow from the backseat and stringing an arrow. He hears an echo of what Bucky says in response, he'll assume it's “no shit.” heh.  
He raises from the car and looses an arrow on the shoulder of the next attacker coming up Bucky's side. 

The guy looks pissed. Bucky headbutts him and he goes down like nothing. Guess he's more pissed.

“Hey, I can't hear shit right now, so if you gotta tell me somethin’, say it loud.” Clint says. There's a gang of them pulling up now. The two Bucky spotted earlier step out of their own car, practically wrapped up in each other. Clint sees this, and looks over to Bucky already looking for a defense. 

He sees Bucky say the words “You're a fucking idiot.” and Clint shrugs at him, before getting punched in the face by one of these lackeys. That's right, he almost forgot about them. He whacks a guy over the head with his bow and shoots another one in the foot with an arrow. He feels Barnes grab one of his arrows and is almost mad about it until he sees the guy stab one of their attackers in the face with it. Damn. 

“[???]... - Rea(lly)?...” Clint can't focus enough to read the girl's lips. He'll have to guess she's giving a backstory or something similar. The guy, who Clint now realizes has been holding an umbrella up, steps forward and collapses it, smacking the damned thing to the side of Clint's head. Clint grabs it and yanks it from him, throwing it to Bucky. 

Bucky seems pleased and uses it to whack a few guys down. Clint's about to get a few hits in himself, but he's outmatched and gets knocked to the ground by a pair of platformer boots. Bucky looks like he’s doing fine until the umbrella pops itself open with some kind of energy blast. Oh. Oh. From what Clint can tell, he's not dying, so he can wait a second to be saved. The guy who initially had the umbrella seems pleased about this. He must’ve activated some device inside the umbrella structure.

He tries to get up, but is kicked down and held in place by a heavy boot on his chest.

“Listen lady, normally I'm into this stuff but my head hurts and you're not really my type.” he says. The reaction is… as anyone can expect, her face scrunched up, and she says something that looks to him like “Gross.” to him. Her foot also lifts up a little, giving him time to pull it out from under her. Her boyfriend(?) has picked up his toy and closed it. He comes over to kick Clint in the side of the head. 

“Ow owowowowow. Fuck.” He reaches up to hold his head in his hands. That was one too many hits for him today.

Bucky's already back up, and he sprints over to tackle the guy down, knocking him out with a metal fist to the face. He points at the girl Clint tripped moments ago and he says something, Clint doesn't really know or care what. It was definitely snarky. After, Bucky stands and stares down at Clint.

“Up.” he says. It's loud enough for Clint to hear.

“Ugh.” Clint responds. He starts to get up and Bucky grabs his arm, helping him the rest of the way. 

“Is it time to call Jan? I feel like it's time to call Jan.” Clint whines. He’s not entirely serious. But a little perspective on the job might be nice, just to get more than “potential weapons dealers” from her. 

Bucky either doesn’t say anything, or isn’t heard. He nudges the girl with his foot. Clint assumes he’s starting the interrogation, which Clint’s just not interested in. He goes to pick a few pockets. He learns these idiots are working for a company called 39th Corp. 

It's obviously a cover company. Clint's been through this before, dozens of times. The question is, who's running it. 

Clint digs around a little more, not finding much else. He got a card with an address on it, so he'll take that as a win. He takes it back over to Bucky, handing the card over.

“Hydra.” Bucky says. Clint can't catch tone of voice anymore since he has to lip read. Buck pockets the address, and looks Clint in the eyes. 

“Find your earpiece. S.H.I.E.L.D. is here in 10. We leave in 9.” Clint reads him clearly, and is… somewhat annoyed at being bossed around. He knows he deserves it. He goes to retrieve his aid anyway, not because he was told to, but because it's common sense. That's his small and, personal rebellion.

He finds his bright purple hearing aid on the floor of the car, in a few pieces. 

“Aw. No. _Fuck_.” He doesn't remember that happening. Maybe he stepped on it. He can't be sure what happened, but it is broken. Clint takes a seat and pockets the pieces before throwing his fist on the dashboard. He can't just fix this on a mission. His left ear isn't great standalone, either.

Bucky shows up next to the open car door. He looks over Clint. 

“(Bro(?))ken?” Clint only hears the second half of the word, but he can figure it out easy enough. 

“Broken.” he repeats. 

Now, Bucky does something unexpected. He reaches over and gently punches Clint's shoulder. Clint raises an eyebrow at this, but Buck seems just as surprised by this as Clint. It takes a minute for Clint to understand that that's Bucky being comforting. And it works, because when Clint realizes _aww he cares,_ it brightens his whole ass mood up. He's about to sass Bucky, but when he thinks of something to say, the guy's already off checking people's pockets and throwing weapons into a pile. Clint decides to help. 

The two make quick work of everyone on the ground in just a few minutes, and S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives just in time for them to take off, headed to “39th Corp"'s Headquarters. A couple of S.H.I.E.L.D. vans follow, and Clint figures they're about to lead a huge raid. Great.

And is there ever a more unassuming building? 39th Corp operates out of an old thrift store. Clint does the research on his phone, which doesn't help them with much. They bought out the previous owners of the building, and turned it into a used tech store.

Bucky parks around the corner and out of sight. The way he's preparing his guns and knives makes Clint think he's about to start a shootout. But, he pauses when he's done. What he's thinking about Clint can't guess. It's not like he needs to know. 

“You're impaired, but I need you.” he finally says. Clint quirks an eyebrow up at that, and shrugs. 

“Hand signals are all I need, champ. If I can read your lips or hands I'm good. Or just like, yell real loud.” Clint signs as he's talking, as it's become habit when he's unable to hear his own voice. Bucky was watching the hands. He doesn't know sign language as far as Clint's aware. He seems reassured either way.

“Good..” he pauses, but seems like he wants to say something else. If he's not gonna talk, Clint can sure as hell take this as the time to tease him.

“It's cute that you're worried about me. Psychs me up to kick more ass in here than you could dream of.” he says with a grin. He expects to enrage Bucky, but all he gets is an eye roll.

“You couldn't keep up with my numbers if you tried, Barton. It's … _‘cute’_ that you think you have a chance.” Damn. Clint feels like he's being flirted with.

He pulls his quiver up and restocks the arrows, laying in a few trick arrows to catch ‘em off guard. He nods at Bucky, too say he's ready. And just like that, both of them are getting out of the car and walking up to the place, weapons drawn low until they get to the door. S.H.I.E.L.D. is right behind them, 20 or so agents waiting for a signal.

Just like that, they burst into the store, weapons pointed on the desk clerk, who naturally raises her arms in surrender. She must have had time to hit a panic button, because the lights are flashing red, there's an alarm, and Hydra agents are flooding into the room as well. 

Bucky's rolled a smoke bomb into the center of the room, and points Clint to the right half. While Buck starts decking Hydra agents on the left using his metal hand, Clint starts to do the same with his own twist. He kicks one in the stomach and rolls over their back in time to whack another guy down with his bow. He looks over to Bucky and sees the guy catch a punch and throw a man to the ground with it. He's… yeah, he's winning. Not that Clint actually cares, he can dismantle his side just fine. 

They get to the next room. It's full of Hydra scientists and armed guards. Armed enough for Clint to half surrender before his ex-wife and the S.H.I.E.L.D. parade come running in, blazing a hot trail of kickass. She's leading the tac team, throwing batons at people, shooting feet, being a goddamn tank.

Clint is… stunned to see her running the same mission as him. He’s distracted on this while fighting, and almost gets a bullet to the side. But Bucky’s right there, breaking the barrel of the gun in his hand. “Nope.” Clint sees him say. S.H.I.E.L.D. tears up the rest of the room and cuffs everyone up. 

“Knight with shining arm.” Clint says with a wink. He tacks a magnetic arrow to it, and it sticks. Bucky seems annoyed at this. But, he’s annoyed by all of Clint’s antics. He says nothing to Clint, but turns to greet Bobbi when she’s walked over. 

“Barbara.” Bucky nods at her. 

“What are you doing here?” Clint says, bumbling over. His forehead's definitely bleeding. He can feel the sting and dribble of blood down the side of his face. He would opt to ignore it, but--

“Jesus Clint are you okay?” she asks, wiping some off with her thumb. 

“‘’s just a scratch. Clint shrugs, Bucky sighs, and Bobbi laughs a little. Bucky reaches into a pocket and pulls out a napkin, pushing it to Clint's forehead for him to hold on to. He mutters something that looks to Clint like “Moron”, which is typical. Clint takes it and signs thanks, while Bobbi starts in on her explanation. 

“I was 10 miles out when my team got the call on a raid. We primarily focus on A.I.M., but who is Bobbi Morse to deny some other rats their fair share of beatings?” She seems happy, not worried at all about interacting with Clint. He thinks, maybe he should be the same way. 

As they clear out of the Base, Bucky and Clint give a full report on their activities over the past few hours. 

Clint's in his feelings because he didn't know Bobbi would be around. He likes a warning. If he has time to adjust, he can deal with it fine. Now he just sits on the back of the med van, head propped up in his hands, watching his ex-wife chat up another agent with some story or another. It sucks. Things suck. Everything is awful. Bucky leans against the van with his arms crossed and watches where Clint watches. Well, things aren't _awful_ , but they sure as hell could be better.

Bucky nudges him and points. Clint hikes up a leg and uses it as an armrest.

“Didn't expect to see her here.” is what he says, because he assumes Bucky wants an explanation.

“Miss [h]er?” he asks. Clint shakes his head.

“We were best friends. Then we hurt each other so bad I can't even work with her without feeling sorry for myself.”

There's a pause. Bucky doesn't talk a lot, so it's expected. The fact that he's here making conversation is an achievement. Then he starts up again. 

“I was like that with ‘Talia.” Which, usually Clint is Not interested in the slightest. But Bucky being emotional? Sure, he'd like to hear about that. He raises an eyebrow. 

“Tell me more.” he says, turning his body to face Bucky better. Bucky just looks disgusted at him for a second, but continues.

“We were perfect until we weren't. We started with a love most can't comprehend. It disappeared between us as we became free to live for ourselves more than The Red Room. Free to go and be anyone we wish.” the last line sounds bitter, and Clint can feel it.

“Love sucks, dude. It's no joke. I had to make the decision every day with Bobbi to love her.”

… Another pause from Bucky. Clint wonders if this got too personal. It's a weird conversation to be having, you know, with your ex's ex. 

“Hey, uh, can we go now or what? I'm tired and you're my ride.” Clint says this with a stretch, standing up to get his legs moving again. Bucky composes himself and nods.

“Engine’s on in three.” He says. He then goes to check with the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to make sure everything is accounted for. This is protocol.

Clint waves to Bobbi, who, sympathetically waved back. She seems happy enough. He'll go wait in the car for Bucky, leaning his seat all the way back. When Bucky gets in, he punches Clint in the gut, not roughly, but it's enough to make Clint sit back up. 

“Was it worth it?” He asks. Clint, assuming he means reclining all the way in the car, answers wholeheartedly: yes. 

“I mean with Bobbi.” Oh. That's a little different. Clint gets comfortable, linking his hands behind his head and taking up a lot of space with his arms.

“It was a waste of both our time. We could've been free much earlier had we called it quits at the end of the West Coast Avengers.” Clint can feel a whole rant underneath these thoughts. This is almost embarrassing.

“Oh man.” Bucky says in response. It almost feels sympathetic. Clint thoughtfully adds on.

“...Well, I don't regret it? If we didn't spend all that time sorting us out, I would still think we could make it work someday. I wouldn't be a very good person, either.”

The car goes silent. Clint dozes off a few times. Now that the mission's over, Bucky's not running sleep deprivation, thank God. He does wake Clint up at the end of the drive. The van is parked outside Clint's apartment building. 

“Hey, nice.” he wipes his eyes clean and gathers all of his stuff into a duffel bag. Barnes stops him before he gets out of the car, and he turns to ask “What?” 

“You never said what you know about me based on my ‘body language’.” ...He's been thinking about that this whole time? Clint has to laugh at the question again. He sets his bag down on the floor of the car and scoots close to Bucky. Faces inches apart.

“I know that you're trying. More than people give you credit for. You have jokes. Some of the things you say are funny as fuck. You're mean, but you care. You have a tell for whenever you think something's funny, but you don't always laugh. It's either that, or you're seriously flirting with me. Maybe both.” Clint explains. It's kind of a risky thing to say, but then, Clint’s never really had a filter.

“And If you're completely wrong?” Bucky asks. That makes Clint think for a moment. 

“Then you would've pushed me away by now.” he answers, remaining comfortably close. He reaches a hand out to Bucky's face, and Bucky pulls him in for a kiss.

And it’s not the best first kiss. Clint’s not very comfortable with his neck craned so far from himself. Bucky’s probably a little rusty or a little worried. He’s fine, but he seems hesitant. Everything else is… smooth. When Clint backs away, he points up at his apartment building vaguely. 

“Got time?” he asks. Bucky spends a second thinking, before responding “Yeah.” with a shrug. To Clint, that’s the funniest thing he’s seen in a while, and he has to laugh. 

“Let’s go then.” He says, getting out of the car again and leading Bucky up to his apartment. Clint has no idea when he decided to like Bucky so much, but he’s pretty sure it was a good decision.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, I don't know, I just wanted a long fic where they're assholes but they're still decent to eachother. IDK. I've got a lot of ideas and zero brain cells to properly execute them. I just want you all to know when Clint complained to Janet about being on the same team as "the ex of an ex" and her response would've been something like "Clint, you try to sleep with every girl you meet. It's impossible not to match you to your ex, let alone your ex's ex." That's all thanks for reading!


End file.
